Home Farm (Charlton) Estates’ newest Unimog is one of the first UK models to be equipped with Mercedes-Benz’s Comfort Steering feature that reduces steering force and intelligently adapts to speed and driving conditions. The introduction of Comfort Steering also allowed dealer Arthur Ibbett to fit the Unimog U430 with an automated steering system. The Topcon XD+ guidance system offers centimetre precision when the all-terrain vehicle follows a set course for farming tasks like cultivation, harvesting, and seeding.
“It was immediately apparent that the system would make working with implements on rough ground much easier, but the fact that we could also fit an automated steering package was even more important to me,” says Home Farm Estates owner Ralph Castle.
On The Road & In The Field
The new Unimog has replaced an older model, and Castle tested versions with and without the Comfort Steering before selecting the new U430. The vehicle’s Topcon XD+ automated steering capability is complemented by an ISOBUS system that lets operators monitor and control implements from the vehicle’s touchscreen, completing the precision farming package.
“When you run a Unimog, the more you use it the more you realise there are extra things it can do,” says Castle. “We bought the first one just for transport around the farm—our land is spread across quite a few miles, so we needed a vehicle that would allow us to get around reasonably quickly.
“It’s perfectly capable of working in the fields, too,” he continues. “At harvest time, for instance, we might use ours to collect a trailer full of grain and bring it back to base much faster than could be done with any other vehicle, so the combine harvester is kept working with fewer interruptions.”
The Unimog U430
Mercedes’ all-wheel-drive Unimog has single rear wheels and comes in gross weights of 7.5 to 16.5 tonnes (8.3 to 18.2 U.S. tons). It comes in UGE implement carrier and UHE extreme off-roader variants. Home Farm (Charlton) Estates’ newest Unimog is a 12.7 t (14 U.S. t) model with an implement carrier. The vehicle is equipped with a 7.7-litre 299-horsepower (220-kilowatt) engine and includes the Central Tyre Inflation system to drop pressures when the vehicle is off-road. And before the vehicle returns to a hard surface, operators can reinflate the tyres.
“It’s a fantastically versatile tool, and will be worked hard all year round throughout the growing cycle,” says Castle.
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Source: Mercedes-Benz